'Glee' Season 5: Ryan Murphy Reveals Cory Monteith's Death Storyline

Even with the initial sting of 'Glee' star Cory Monteith's death behind us, fans of the long-running FOX musical dramedy have been waiting to learn how series creator Ryan Murphy would address the tragedy within the series, whether or not to kill Monteith's character Finn Hudson off, and whether to incorporate drugs into the story. Now, Murphy has opened up to reveal how Finn will exit the drama in season 5, and how the cast pays tribute within.

Speaking to Deadline, Murphy offered up a lengthy explanation in which he reveals the decision not to incorporate drug use into the character's death, even as cast members will shoot PSAs about the dangers of addition and abuse. Instead, the cause of death may not actually be revealed at all, as Murphy says:

We have decided that we’re not going to have him pass from [an accidental drug overdose]. Basically, what we’re doing in the episode is we are not telling you yet, or maybe not at all, how that character died.

The idea being, how somebody died is interesting and maybe morbid, but we say very early on in the episode, “This episode is about a celebration of that character’s life.” That might be weird for some people, but it felt really exploitative to do it any other way.

Murphy also revealed that the two Beatles-centric episodes prior to the memorial in season 5 have undergone a bit of reworking, though not to necessarily change their more optimistic tone. The showrunner also confirmed that the cast will take a hiatus after shooting the memorial episode to "get our heads together. We loved Cory and we loved Finn and it feels like a huge loss and a huge heartache not to have either of them around."

Well 'Glee' fans, what say you? Should 'Glee' have tackled drug abuse head on in addressing Cory Monteith and his character's passing? How do you think the series will proceed without one of its main stars?